Taron Egerton Sings as Elton John in the New ‘Rocketman’ Trailer

Taron Egerton doesn’t just play Elton John in the new biopic Rocketman; he also sings his songs himself. In the featurette above, you get visual confirmation that, yes, it’s Egerton crooning John’s signature ballads and pop hits in the film, which is directed by Dexter Fletcher. He also recently oversaw the production of Bohemian Rhapsody after Bryan Singer was fired from the film. He followed that up with a rock biopic of his own. Hollywood is a fascinating place.

This is the eternal dilemma with these rock movies. Do you just have the lead actor lip sync the original tunes, or do you bring in somebody who can sing the music himself? On the one hand, audiences want to hear the classics they love. On the other hand, is it really worth paying $15 to watch someone pretend to sing a song you could listen to on Spotify or watch on YouTube? Egerton doesn’t sound exactly like Elton John to my ear — in a blind taste test, so to speak, there’d be no question who was singing — but he does have a good voice. And Elton John songs are not easy to sing, either.